Man Swept Out To Sea; Tsunami Batters Harbors

A man who went to the Northern California coast near the Klamath River to photograph the arrival of a tsunami early Friday was swept out to sea and remained missing, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Elsewhere along the Northern and Central California coast, the tsunami generated by a massive earthquake in Japan left a wake of battered boats and debris littering ports throughout the region.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Rachel Polish told KTVU that three people had gone to the coast to take pictures of the tsunami’s arrival around 10 a.m. when they were swept out to sea.

Two of the individuals were able to make it safely back to shore, but the third remained missing and was the subject of an intense helicopter and water search by the Coast Guard.

The tsunami capsized and damaged boats and docks in harbors up and down the coast, leaving the waters littered with debris.

Watching powerful waves roll underneath the Santa Cruz Harbor docks, some old and rotting and others new, one longtime maintenance worker Friday morning lamented the damage left by a tsunami sparked by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan on Thursday night.

"We are just getting our whole harbor wrecked," Eileen Sundet said. "This is just so sad."

Sundet, who had the day off from work, left behind her tools and brought along a camera to capture the large chunks of debris floating in the harbor, where earlier this morning a sailboat crashed into a nearby bridge.

Santa Cruz police Deputy Chief Steve Clark said at least 20 boats sunk and more than 100 were damaged. He estimated that the surges have caused $4.5 million in damage to the vessels and more than $10 million in damage to the harbor itself.

No injuries have been reported, Clark said.

Sundet was one of about 200 residents who stood awestruck every time surges of water caused docks to rattle and boats to come loose and crash into each other, their voices competing with the whirring of three helicopters hovering over the harbor.

Manuel Rangel, a waiter at El Jardin restaurant on Capitola Road, said he had not witnessed anything like this in the 10 years he has lived in Santa Cruz.

Shortly after he arrived around 10 a.m., Rangel said he saw the water rush from the back of the harbor and "made all the boats smash into each other."

"One little boat flipped over," he recalled.

Robin Gallo, a retired construction worker who lives a mile away from the harbor, came over on his bicycle as soon as he found out about the tsunami warning this morning.

"As we stood and watched, we saw the water rise up and the boats and docks shifting," Gallo said.

An advisory evacuation order went into effect at about 6 a.m. for beachfront homes near the harbor. Clark said the order was lifted at 5 p.m. and that residents will be allowed to return to their homes.

"The worst has passed at this point," he said. "We feel it's starting to subside."

Authorities will continue to monitor the harbor, municipal wharf, and beach area, Clark said.

Meanwhile, to the north in Crescent City, the tsunami caused heavy damage to the harbor town.

Del Norte County sheriff's spokesman Bill Stevens said most boats were pulled out of the harbor in preparation for Friday's tsunami, but 35 vessels that remained crashed into one another and were sinking.

The wooden docks were also breaking apart under the force of the waves.

Crescent City Councilwoman Kelly Schellong said the docks and harbor were "pretty much completely destroyed."

Stevens said the damage cost wass estimated to be into the millions, and the surges were expected to continue through the afternoon.

"This is just devastating. I never thought I'd see this again," said Ted Scott, a retired mill worker who lived in Crescent City when a 1964 tsunami killed 17 people on the West Coast, including 11 in his town. "I watched the docks bust apart. It buckled like a graham cracker."

The waves didn't make it over a 20-foot break wall protecting the rest of the city, and no serious injuries or home damage was immediately reported.

Elsewhere, the wave impact had not been felt as dramatically.

Earlier in the morning, hundreds of cars jammed the roadside along Highways 35 and 92 as residents of Half Moon Bay and other nearby communities obeyed a voluntary evacuation warning in preparation for the tsunami's arrival.

County officials had advised residents in the low-lying areas west of Highway 1 to move to ground east of the highway, according to the county's emergency alert system.

Residents in the Linda Mar area of Pacifica were advised to evacuate to the east of Adobe Drive. Those in El Granada should evacuate to the east of Coronado Street.

Meanwhile, Pacifica school officials canceled classes for the day.

In San Francisco, acting Mayor Ed Lee said no evacuations had been ordered because of a combination of low tide and only a surge expected to be only 1-2 feet.

However, as a precaution Lee said the Great Highway along Ocean Beach had been closed. The highway was closed from Point Lobos at 48th Avenue to Lake Merced, Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.

To the south along the Central Coast the tsunami surge also caused damage to boats in Morro Bay.

Police Chaplain James Berg said the swells had knocked some boats loose and damaged a dock. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from low lying areas, the harbor and the Embarcadero areas of the city.

Residents who were evacuated from low-lying areas in San Mateo County can now return to their homes, according to county officials who Friday afternoon said that the danger of a tsunami has passed.

Dangerous waves and tidal surges were expected between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. in the wake of the magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck off the northeast coast of Japan ten hours earlier.

All highways and surface streets are now open, although beach areas and coastal waterways remain subject to unexpected and dangerous waves, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

The county's Office of Emergency Services resumed normal operations at 4 p.m., a decision officials said was based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's degradation of the hazard notification to an advisory from a warning.

San Mateo County had no reported damage, injuries or loss of life related to the ocean surge, officials said.